Reptiles

The need to get pure bred animals back into the wild as well as create a genetic diversity from all available stock is emphasised in this exercise. Swedish crocs are being sent to their Cuban origins to help increase both survival and genetic stock.

How stupid we are. For thousands of years, many have regarded reptiles and crocodilians in particular as slow and stupid themselves. From these papers, you can understand how wrong we were and how artful the croc can be. Just ask Captain Hook! (Who actually proves that some people always thought the scaly monster was not just tough, but wily too.)

We worry and then worry again about our turtles, so any good news is welcome, even if one area of success is unlikely to help all the other species. The Olive Ridley turtle was found once in this study reminding us of all the life trials that these unlucky reptiles have to endure.

How much research flows out of Madagascar, on the lemurs, chameleons and frogs alone. We have to preserve this island and sustain its people in their struggles with nature, including climate change. The age of introspection is over. This is one planet and we all are one with it  just investigate the biodiversity and the climate change conferences mushrooming in response to popular demands.

To find evidence of how speciation can happen when there is an obvious bio-geographical boundary should be simple. This represents a first, however, for a group colonising New Guinea and evolving a greater size in several instances. The ancestry of these New Guinea geckos, large and small, has been well-traced.

Why and how do island species suffer so much from cats, rats and dogs, and the rest of the invasive species? A few hundred years too late, we might finally be getting around to countering the effects of predators on the most vulnerable of animal species. There are also the native predators to consider, of course.

The rare animals of this word need government legal protection and local people involved in their conservation and that of their habitats. Tourism is only one of the benefits that comes from successful work, theres also the huge pride in being the only people to have such a beast!

How did social behaviour evolve, and why do we see it in so many animals, no matter what level of taxonomy they are found? Spiders, sticklebacks and insects, birds, mammals and reptiles are all involved in complex social interaction.

When is an alien species really alien? Maybe only when it is a critical danger to another species. A new book from a popular author puts forward persuasive and alarming arguments. Camels, eagles, snakes, spiders and influenza virus, wrapped up in invasive packaging.

The way in which cephalopods and chameleons communicate is colour-based. More study is needed on how much information is passed on. The physiology, the status and the drive can be explained now by rate change and colour brightness in different parts of the anatomy

We normally regard Batesian mimics as butterflies that pretend to be poisonous, or even snakes. The cuckoo now reveals its subtle disguise as a dangerous predator of small birds, but of course, it's fooling these small birds into letting it lay an egg in their nest.

The turtle is a fantastic design, unequalled among other vertebrates for its adaptable protective shell and its endurance through time. Here is a breakthrough paper that tells us just how the reptiles managed to produce such an endearing and successful creature.

The Zoological Society of London, in collaboration with the essential International Union for the Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission, have consulted 200 relevant experts. They have compiled the essentials for reptilian species risks. The findings: 19% are at risk of total extinction!

Cute chameleons created in genetic isolation. New Species of Miniature Leaf Chameleon (Brookesia micra) discovered in Northern Madagascar. On a small islet to the north of Madagascar, four new species of chameleons have followed the Malagasy trend and gone miniature.

Crocodiles and their relatives the crocodyliforms, go back a long way. A skull has been discovered from 95 million years ago. This new species find, Aegisuchus witmeri (Shieldcroc) seems to suggest the real origin of the ancient crocodiles was the Tethys Sea between northern Laurasia and Gondwanaland.

A multidisciplinary team of researchers have investigated how lizards use their tails to improve their ability to jump successfully. The separation between biology and engineering has been ignored in an interdisciplinary research project carried out at UC Berkeley.

Paleontologists working in northern Oregon's Rattlesnake Formation have identified fossilized beaver teeth believed to be about 7 million years old, which is at least 2 million years older than any previously discovered beaver remains. The finding sheds new light on our understanding of when modern beavers first came to North America and diverged from the Eurasian beaver.

Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society have good news about one of the world's rarest crocodiles. Twenty critically endangered Siamese crocodiles have hatched in a zoo in Lao PDR, representing a significant step in the successful conservation of this species.

A NASA project has for the first time mapped the glacial flows of Antarctica, providing vital information in the monitoring of climate change. The map they have created shows glaciers as they snake their way from the desolate Antarctic interior to the southern oceans.

Scientists from the University of California have thrown new light on how invasive species can affect local ecosystems, even after their removal from the environment. The Kudzu Vine, Brown Tree Snake, the Common Carp, Garlic Mustard and the Blue Mussel - just a few of hundreds of invasive species threatening ecosystems across the planet.

An endangered species of salmon are not being given adequate protection by the American government a court has ruled. Delighted conservation, fishing and tribal groups now want action they say will save the salmon species and provide thousands of jobs.

CITES convention examines effects of trade on at-risk species like long-tailed macaques, sharks, and several snake species. Unsustainable wildlife trade not only devastates local ecosystems, it also causes great suffering to individual animals and can introduce invasive species that damage ecosystems abroad.

Madagascan species at risk of extinction are commonly found on sale in Thai markets says a WWF-backed body investigating the trade in endangered species. TRAFFIC surveyed sales for 15 days in Bangkok and eight of Thailand's provinces and found 591 Madagascan reptiles and amphibians available on sale.

With the bushmeat trade growing annually, experts recognise that innovative solutions are required to halt this illegal activity. Commercial trading in bushmeat - the meat and other parts of wild mammals, birds and reptiles - is a highly lucrative industry, particularly prevalent in central Africa. Bushmeat trading is on the rise within many central African countries

A research group from Brown University have discovered that rainfall distribution affected the chosen habitat of mammals over 200 million years ago. A team of scientists at Brown University have established that early mammals confined themselves to one area of the continent while early reptiles known as procolophonids lived in another section.

Bog turtles, tiny fen-dwelling reptiles found at scattered sites in the north-east and eastern US, are being hit by a mysterious decline in numbers. Now the Wildlife Conservation Society (WSC) has partnered with other wildlife agencies to track the scope of the problem, and try and find out why North America's smallest turtle is coming under renewed threat.

A new green pit viper has been found by scientists working in the forests of Southeast Asia. An undiscovered species of snake, which has been called the ruby-eyed green pit viper, was found nestled into a tree branch by researchers studying snakes in Southeast Asia. They captured the stunning creature in a photograph which has been used to help identify it as a new species previously unknown to humans.

For the native birds of the Everglades, keeping an eye out for pythons is an increasing preoccupation. The burgeoning population of snakes, descended from pet-escapees, is seen as an increasing threat to some of the endangered species of Florida's National Park, says a study published in this month's BioOne. Filed in environmental isssues: florida/snakes/nature.

Human intervention is causing a serious decline in the world turtle population. 2011 has been designated 'The Year of the Turtle' by Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC). Turtles are currently disappearing from the planet faster than any other kind of animal and although they have been around for about 220 million years.

Colombian rainforests under threat due to an increase in production of coca to meet world demand for cocaine. More than 1,821 species of birds, 623 species of amphibians, 467 species of mammals, 518 species of reptiles and 3,200 species of fish are found, mainly in the country's vast tracts of tropical forest.

Engineer provides new insight into pterodactyl flight by building epoxy resin and carbon fibre wings. Giant pterosaurs  ancient reptiles that flew over the heads of dinosaurs  were at their best in gentle tropical breezes, soaring over hillsides and coastlines or floating over land and sea on thermally driven air currents, according to new research from the University of Bristol.

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What are we going to do about energy production, while the Paris Summit on carbon emissions looms in December? While we twiddle our thumbs, global warming is worsening at a faster and faster pace. Each individual on earth needs to act like his personal government and environmental agent, to gain a fuller appreciation of how technology and 'new' thinking can prevent such vast amounts of emissions. Many solutions are being found, but they have to appear this year. Otherwise, the winter in Paris could be uncomfortable in so many different ways.

The future is talked about, the climate is changing, but when will we finally stop the rot. Forests are essential but from Japanese furniture to cardboard and toilet paper, they are still being used illogically and incomprehensibly by people who all know better. The time has come to prevent the disappearance of these trees and all the animals that live in, on and around them. This is a desperate time for us and all the other species around forests.

Conservation is not only about the big animals. The plants, their consumers and the rest of an ecosystem may not catch headlines, but involving them and indigenous populations is crucial to our last ditch efforts to keep these organisms alive in their habitat.

When dolphins are 'rescued' in various countries, the car given seems to be ill-considered. We are simply looking at the success rate which is reported to be low, in most places. They could even end up in commercial aquarium shows, but they certainly rarely make it back to the sea.